[BlueHorse17]

I am 5'2" and my BMI is 21 at 119 lbs. I would like to get down to 115 if possible. I bike ride for an hour every other day and on days I don't bike ride I lift weights for a half hour. I am currently on 1,500 calories a day and I do most of my cooking at home - I hardly eat at restaurants or fast food. I'm thinking maybe I might have to bump up the calories in order to shed off the last few pounds, and then its working on maintaining... Any advice from anyone who have been in a similar situation?

[Anonee_Moose]

What do you eat at home? How many miles do you cover on the bike? Total weight lifted during sessions? Need more info to be able to help. Was in a similar situation a few years ago before I lost my way.
Many people succeed in losing the last 5-10 pounds by cutting out sugar and sugar substitutes. Good luck!

[Earthling]

I disagree about bumping up the calories unless you feel so hungry that you are exercising less. I suggest you stick to EXACTLY what you are doing and be accurate to the T as to calorie counting... and then... be patient.
Here's why:
Let's say for all intents and purposes that your BMR at your current weight and height, with little to no exercise is conservatively something like 1600. That means, without exercise, you are looking at a calorie deficit of 100 calories a day if you are counting accurately and consistently. If you up your calories you may not be hitting a deficit. And biking may not burn enough for you to see appreciable changes in your body week by week.
Let also say for all intents and purpose that 1 pound of fat very roughly represents 3500 calories. (It's not exactly but close enough for our purposes.) That means is will take approximately 140 days to shed 4 pounds, maybe as low as 70 with the exercise you are doing and that is if and only if you are not eating those calories back when you eat out or go to a party.
Bottom line= P A T I E N C E.
And maybe try a kickboxing class? Slightly more exercise? but something that really uses your large muscles like the glutes. They need more energy.
That's my suggestion. It takes a long time to shed those last few especially since you are already so tiny.

[sarahbaker]

Hi BlueHorse17 I was struggling with the exact same thing! I've been dieting and exercising for about a year now and I went down from 70kg to 60kg but I still wanted to lose another 5kg and just couldn't move the weight! Soooo frustrating. I heard a lot about detox programs and was really skeptical but there was one that explained exactly how it worked and also had a really good free eating plan and recipe book so I've been trying it out and I'm really happy with the results. I lost 3.5kg in 7 days after not having lost any weight in about a month of diet and exercising! I also didn't exercise at all during the detox. The company name is Skinny Life. If you search skinnylifetea with no spaces their website is the fourth listing.

I totally recommend this detox! It really helped me to push through the plateau that I've been struggling with! I would upload a progress pic and URL but I'm new to the forum and don't have access to do that yet. Skinny Life posted my progress pic though so you can see my progress on their results page

Hope this helps!! x Sarah

[BlueHorse17]

Thank you but I am trying to do this on my own without any company support, etc. As far as exercise, when I bike ride I go about two miles each day I bike, and the weights I lift are size 8. The foods I eat at home are mostly cooked by myself - I hardly ever go out or go to restaurants. Most of the salads and sandwiches I buy are bought at the store if I want them already prepared. I drink mostly unsweetened iced tea and water (sometimes Vitamin Water Zero). As far as the foods I commonly eat, they are veggies like carrots, beets, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers. The meats I eat are chicken, turkey, steak, tuna, lean hamburger meat. As far as breads I have multigrain and other foods I like to eat are quinoa, Greek yogurt, and protein bars. I'm personally pretty strict on my foods.

[Anonee_Moose]

Sorry BlueHorse17, I should have been more specific. When calculating weightlifting totals it's customary to multiply the weight by the reps to get a rough estimate of total work done.
Anyway, you sound quite strict on your food already but the thing that stands out to me is the multi-grain bread. Research has shown that the insulin response of eating 1 slice of wheat bread is equivalent to eating about half a cup of sugar. This is because GMO Wheat has exponentially more glucagon than wheat did 100 years ago.

If you can do it safely (without injury, undue stress) I would try to get more intensity(go farther in the same amount of time) out of the bike sessions. You could also try running or hiking instead/ in addition to riding your bike. Could look like this: 5 min run(slow)55min bike, 10 min run(slow) 50 min bike, and so on until you're adjusted to running as it is a more calorically demanding exercise, especially for beginners.

Hope this helps, take care!

p.s. I'm not a fitness professional by any means, just a sports science nerd so take my advice with as much salt as you can stand

[BlueHorse17]

Thank you for the advice. Do you have any idea how much excess skin might add to weight? The doctor said that I look scrawny yet I am in good weight. When I stand you can see my ribs and the bones under my chest but I have a lot of excessive skin on my arms and legs. I'm thinking that might be adding to the weight as well. Like if I maybe took away the excess skin I might look too thin.

[Anonee_Moose]

Hmm, well the extra skin probably weighs barely anything. Impossible to say how much but I can't imagine it's more than 1 pound. You might benefit from trying to add on a pound or two of muscle if you're worried about extra skin, but the skin will tighten over time. That "scrawny" look as you called it is pretty common among people who favor aerobics and light weights (including athletes), does your doctor say you're too thin? Maybe it's time to just call it good and start maintaining.

Good luck and take care!